Shayne Looper: A bold experiment in church unity

Shayne Looper

Sunday

Jan 29, 2012 at 12:01 AMJan 29, 2012 at 12:20 PM

More than a half-century ago, A. W. Tozer wrote: “It is too bad that anything so obvious should need to be said at this late date, but from all appearances, we Christians have about forgotten the lesson so carefully taught by Paul: God’s servants are not to be competitors, but co-workers.”

More than a half-century ago, A. W. Tozer wrote: “It is too bad that anything so obvious should need to be said at this late date, but from all appearances, we Christians have about forgotten the lesson so carefully taught by Paul: God’s servants are not to be competitors, but co-workers.”

That lesson has not quite been forgotten. This February, pastors and their churches in Coldwater, Mich., and the surrounding area will join in a cooperative venture they are calling “Bold Faith Initiative.”

Twenty-two churches are participating. That is remarkable, in light of the fact the chamber of commerce lists just over 50 churches in this county of 47,000 people.

Participating churches come from a variety of ecclesiastical traditions. Some are mainline denominations dubbed “liberal” in the media. Other are conservative evangelical churches. Some are charismatic or Pentecostal. Some worship from a set liturgy, while others are more extemporaneous.

During the monthlong campaign, pastors will preach on the same texts and themes each week in their various churches. A daily devotional guide, co-written by 11 different pastors, will address the themes of bold faith, prayer, obedience and sacrifice. The area ministerial will also host a blog site where participants can share their “bold faith” stories.

Church members will have the option of wearing a green wristband as a reminder to be bold in their expression of faith and to pray for fellow-believers to do the same. The wristbands will help them recognize those fellow-believers in grocery stores and restaurants, at the dentist office and the gas station.

This initiative takes seriously Jesus’ prayer that his church might “be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you [God] sent me.” And it does so without making the mistake that so many ecumenical efforts have made: promoting unity at the price of trivializing doctrine.

The churches involved don’t need anyone to remind them that they have doctrinal differences. They do not pretend that these disagreements are unimportant, but they recognize that – whatever their differences – they share a commitment to, and life from, Jesus Christ the Lord.

This is one of the chief benefits of the initiative. Believers discover that they are not alone. Christians from different denominations and faith traditions recognize that they share a common devotion to Christ and his work, and are therefore connected to each other. This connection is what is meant by the biblical word “fellowship.”

Reader’s Digest once published a piece titled “What Good is a Tree?” In the article, science editor Lowell Ponte explained that when the roots of trees touch, an unknown fungus can appear. This fungus provides a link between tree’s roots that reduces competition even among unrelated species.

In this way an entire forest can be bound together underground. The linkage makes it possible for a tree with access to water, a second tree with access to nutrients, and a third tree that receives sunlight to share their resources with one another.

Like trees in a forest, Christians are linked together by one Spirit. Their expressions of worship might differ as plainly as a maple differs from a willow. Their churches’ organizational structures may be as different as the cedar is from the oak. Outwardly, they may look as dissimilar as a beech and a ponderosa pine. But beneath their differences, they share the same life. That life unites them and makes them members of the one Body of Christ.

Shayne Looper is the pastor at the Lockwood Community Church in Coldwater, Mich. He can be reached at salooper@dmcibb.net.

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